Irresponsibility

For the first time since March 23, there were no reported funerals linked to Covid-19 last week.

This is, of course, good news. But it is news that should be treated with caution, because the least appropriate response would be to behave as if this somehow indicated that the threat from coronavirus had lifted.

And yet one only has to visit a kosher shop or walk around a Jewish neighbourhood to see that some in our community are behaving as if all is now well. In some parks and streets, social distancing appears to be an alien concept.

Masks are legally required in shops — but there are people walking around the aisles blithely ignoring this. It is an act of pure selfishness.

They may have no regard for their own safety but masks are primarily about protecting others, especially the most vulnerable to infection.

The best measure we have indicates that 508 Jews have died from Covid-19. Our community has suffered disproportionately.

The people who refuse to behave responsibly dishonour their memory — and should have future deaths on their consciences. 

Desperation

We are a community of refugees. At the very least, that should mean an empathy with other refugees — wherever in the world they may be.

The ongoing scenes in the English Channel are both heartbreaking and disturbing. None of us knows the individual background and immigration status of those attempting to make the crossing.

But we do know they are all human and all in their own way desperate — and deserve to be respected as such.